How to Lock Brave on Mac

Lock Brave so it will not open without Touch ID or your password. Four steps, about a minute.

Lock Brave on Mac, step by step

Download Cloak from trycloak.app and open it. Set up Touch ID or a password the first time it asks. There is no account.
Click the plus button under Locked apps, tick Brave, and click Lock.
Quit Brave if it is open.
Open Brave again. Cloak now asks for Touch ID before it will launch.

Your Mac password works as a fallback by default. If other people know that password, open Cloak's Settings, turn off "Let my Mac password unlock Cloak", and set a Cloak password instead.

Who this is for

For people whose Brave stays signed in to email, banking and social accounts. That is most of us. One person at your desk for a minute is enough.

What Screen Time can't do

Apple has no way to lock a single app on a Mac. The closest thing is Screen Time, which puts a daily time limit on Brave. A limit is not a lock. Brave opens normally until the time runs out, the Screen Time passcode is four digits, and anyone who knows it can click Ignore Limit for the rest of the day. It was built to manage screen time, not privacy. Cloak asks for Touch ID or your password every single time Brave opens.

Why lock Brave at all

Brave promises privacy from trackers, but it cannot protect your open tabs and history from a person sitting at your unlocked Mac. Because a single unlocked window can hand a passer-by your logged-in sessions before you are back at your desk, Brave is exactly the kind of app worth putting behind Touch ID.

Why a Mac-level lock beats Brave's own settings

Browsers let you set a sync passphrase or a profile, but they keep you logged in and leave open tabs visible the moment the window is in front. Locking the whole app at the system level means the browser will not open, and your tabs will not be seen, until you pass Touch ID.

Frequently asked questions

Does locking Brave with Cloak slow it down?

No. Cloak only steps in at launch to ask for Touch ID. Once Brave is unlocked it runs exactly as it normally would, with no background overhead.

Will I still get Brave notifications while it is locked?

Notification behaviour is controlled by macOS, not by Cloak. If you want Brave alerts hidden too, pair the lock with hiding the app, or turn off previews for Brave in System Settings under Notifications.

What happens if Touch ID is not available?

By default Cloak offers your Mac login password as a fallback, so you can still open Brave on a Mac without a Touch ID sensor or if your finger is not recognised. If other people know your Mac password, you can turn that fallback off and use a separate Cloak password instead.

Can I lock Brave with Screen Time instead?

Screen Time sets a time limit, not a lock. Brave opens normally until the limit is reached, and the limit can be ignored for the day by anyone who knows the four-digit passcode. Cloak asks for Touch ID every time.

How to lock Brave on your Mac